Chapter Nine:

"Our other half was right, we won't hurt you our love."

Our love.

Love.

God, if she wasn't an empath Cassidy would have never believed that. But it was true, a double... well, not an echo. It was stronger then that but came from both man and the symbiote.

It was so complicated now that said symbiote wasn't shielding the connection with its host. So much twined 'cords' that were in many 'colors' and different shades of those colors. At first glance it was all crisscrossed and almost a mess, but it was really just over lapping layers that half hid deep scars that were dark grey on black.

Cassidy wasn't used to help in healing old things, but she had tried as best as she could. But the feeling of the symbiote's mind, and Eddie's as well, was distracting.

Twisting, moving darkness…that's what it seemed like, what it looked like in the mind's eye: like black velvet on black silk. Eddie was different the colors of his emotions had more earthy tones of brown and red-ish tan like the layers in sandstone.

It was amazing, and the complexity where human and alien met, overlapped or meshed was… was… wonderfully different. Some of the twined threads were knotted and it took some effort to untwist them. After four knots were 'smoothed' out there was a flooding of relief and easing of pain.

Cassidy could feel the impression of two different minds now in distinctive patterns. But she couldn't feel her own body, at least not until the blackness vanished with a loud knocking that was more banging.

With a un-lady like snort and sound that would have been a word at any other time, Cassidy sat up. Green eyes blinked bleary in confusion and disorientation. A deeper grunt came from under the pillow to her left, signaling that Edie was feeling much the same about being woken up.

Had that been a dream?

No...

Bang! Bang!

Realizing it was the 'front door' the woman vaulted off the bed. Well, she tried to, but in her caffeine deprived coordination she fell off the bed. It didn't help that it felt like she had one hell of a hang over to boot.

"What?" Eddie's voiced asked, seeming just as sleepy and confused. Both humans had been through an… interesting night that neither could not now truly recall it all. It was a mix of colors rather then true images, for that's how an empath's imagery worked. Telepaths could formed words and images that were memories or imagined things to represent of thoughts and the like. Empaths saw a network of colors, and shades of those colors that were felt as much as 'seen' with the mind's eye. So when empaths and telepaths met it was like two different languages.

"Oumph, ow, damn it where's…" Cassidy fumbled around. She pulled on the nearest shirt that was somewhat too big, thus probably not hers, and hopped into a pair of tight shorts from the corner that didn't make it into the laundry bin before staggering out of the room.

Behind there was a thump as Eddie fell out of the bed as well and groped around blindly for his jeans. The man stood, hopping from one foot to the other almost like Cassidy had done while he put on his socks before spotting his pants. Where did his shirt go?

Bang! Bang!

Dark blue eyes blinked and narrowed at the sound. Pulling on his own jeans the man fallowed the path Cassidy took down stairs to the storage warehouse below. Although, his path was more of straight line then his girl's had been, he spotted her just as she opened the small door to the pre dawn lit street.

"Cassidy!" Brock, no, Venom lunged forward at the same time the other bonded symbiote pair did, colored mostly in shades of red with shifting stripes of black and pale white eye patches. He's tendril, pointed and sharp, pierced flesh and curled, yanking the now wide awake and more then started woman closer to him where he wrapped his other arm around her.

Of all the things that could have possibly happen to his new found 'peace.' Of all the people that could have came to annoy him, them here on the other side of the continent...! Why on this green earth did it have to be him?!

The wide, fang filled grin was unmistakable. As well as the 'scent' that each symbiote had and could only be 'smelt' by another. The voice was just the same: unmistakably high and with that distinct insane screech.

"A-HAH! So you have been hiding here...Dad!" Carnage nearly shrieked with glee, leaping backwards to avoid the powerful black claws of Venom. Hanging onto his unexpected prize with his hands and the symbiote tendrils alike.

"Let her go, runt of a spawn..." Venom hissed half on all fours as he stalked forward before standing up at his full size, towering. With each step the black being took he grew, his size expanding from the tall man to the massive form that was Venom.

"Shinny," Carnage said hopping away again, holding firm to his bleeding hostage. "Nice legs, yummy looking-" Then he stopped, all waving tendrils freezing as if some divine being had hit a pause button on Carnage's life and body.

Unexpectedly Venom paused too, sensing the same thing. Only from his front angle he could see both Carnage and Cassidy. It gave him, them for both symbiote and human had a clear view of the mutant's eyes that had glazed over. Not from the pain of the tendril spike in her side.

Neither Venom, nor Brock, had seen Cassidy use her empathic ability in that automatic, self defense attack she had. The glaze over the eyes made them look orange, and she reached out to grab any and all of the thousands of emotions that were ample in any city. More so in one that was the size Los Angelus was. Then all of that was 'slammed' into this new symbiote pair that was so well bonded together that they were one mind.

But that kind of mental assault, being so unexpected and Carnage had not mental shields against an attack like this. Later on the amazing part would be noted that it wasn't a wild attack, so that Venom wasn't affected by it. The bigger, not to mention older, pair charged forward with all the grace of a freight train. Black talons dug in past the red symbiote's skin and flesh to the man underneath, Carnage had never had the sense to make sure there was a thick layer of the symbiote protecting the venerable human flesh.

Venom wanted to bite down but he watched as the younger symbiote let go of Cassidy to clutch at his head, shrieking incoherently. Then more so and he was hefted up and thrown down the street. Red flailing tendrils showing where he landed.

"Cassidy..." Venom shifted, changing until he wasn't the hulking mass of fangs and bulging muscles. It was Eddie's body covered with the symbiote up to his neck, his other pulling away from his face as he turned his attention down to the young woman. The symbiote screamed in furry in the back of his mind but Brock stubbornly held onto control as he pressed one hand on the bleeding wound. Carnage had stabbed and hocked it to hold into her.

The woman gasped, at the pain and at the flood of emotions, her grip on her power wavering. She had never kept up at this level for so long. Easing the emotions in the Java House was more of an underlying thing that took no thought, and it had taken years for Cassidy to make a block for herself to keep projecting her own emotions as well as being so easily effected by others. Pain, her own pain spiked and the attack failed.

"Cass? Hey," Brock smiled, and then felt the wave of mixed emotions in a pattern. His other understood before he did and Venom turned back around to block the strike of a hyper extended tendril. The sharpened end bit down a few inches into the black symbiote flesh, but the human arm was safe. "We'll tare you apart-"

"Nasty...NASTY spit-fire!" Carnage screamed, like a child. He was really one, in a strange as well as deranged sort of way. "That hurt! It hurt!"

"Good!" Cassidy yelled, pushing up onto one elbow partly and reaching out with her other hand. It looked like she was reaching for help at first, but her eyes darkened a shade before narrowing as the empath slammed her own pain into the red colored symbiote pair. Seeing emotions more then what was really around her, so Cassidy knew exactly were each person was in a ten block radius, but not what was right in front of her. Essentially the woman was visually blinded. It was the price the empath had to pay when she truly used her gift to manipulate those living around her, not just influence.

One by one Cassidy's mental shields, hundreds of them that had been made over the years (since she was six years old) slid away. The empath opening herself up to all around her, reaching out to grab what she could –at the same time giving that dark pool that was Venom a wide birth so not to hurt him. It was considerably harder to aim those emotions at Carnage then one would think, the temptation to divert and let herself be drown in it all was all to strong. All she had to do was let go of her inner shields...

Pain, her own pain pushed through the haze and Cassidy refocused.

The attack worked, but lashed back. It was the draw back of having her main shields down, Cassidy felt what she just did to the insane symbiote pair.

True empaths that had real power behind them were rarely considered mean or cruel people for this vary reason. If they were the empath in question would feel the pain of their 'victim' two fold, unlike telepaths they just couldn't block themselves and manipulate at the same time. So as a result empaths kept their shields up, sometimes influencing those around them but never controlling the emotions. The most powerful often secluding themselves away from the grater population in favor of only family or a small group of tightly knitted friends.

Venom staggered, not completely excluded as he shook his head, grasping it in his talons. The big symbiote pair moved not unlike a drunk in all honestly as the symbiote itself forced itself between the assault and it's host mind. At the same time Brock was attempting to get more control over their shared body.

Venom shook his head as he became aware of an unexpected advantage of having two minds in one body. Baring his fangs the powerhouse stalked with all the intent of a super predator that just discovered his nest had been invaded and said invader was still there. He lifted his arms one fist in the other hand as he loomed over his writhing spawn. As if in a dramatic reaction to what he was about to do the sky had darkened and a thundered head formed in scant seconds.

The black symbiote pair took a step back away from Carnage, head swiveling around as Brock (who wasn't as single minded as his other) was distracted. Sensing two other distinctive minds with mental gifts, only he 'heard' faint whispers of actually voices, meaning telepaths...?

The lightning bolt slammed down like judgment above.

Carnage shrieked in a new pitch, the deeper roar of Venom making a nice counterpoint as he was burned as well.

Still connected to the red symbiote, Cassidy's back arched. Mouth opening in a soundless scream to echo that which was coming from Carnage, her eyes lost that orange glaze.

The empath's heart stopped as black booted feet thudded down near her.

Queen's note: ……….(Fleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!) I will say that no, Cass' isn't dead, you're heart can stop and be restarted.